CWT Assists with 6.9 Million Pounds of Cheese, Butter and WMP Export Sales

CWT Assists with 6.9 Million Pounds of Cheese, Butter and WMP Export Sales

Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 26 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Foremost Farms, Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Association, Michigan Milk Producers Association and United Dairymen of Arizona to sell 4.295 million pounds (1,948 metric tons) of Cheddar, Gouda and Monterey Jack cheese and 2.499 million pounds (1,134 metric tons) of butter and 85,980 pounds of Whole Milk Powder (WMP) to customers in Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and South America. The product will be delivered October 2012 through April 2013.

In 2012, CWT has assisted member cooperatives in making export sales of Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Gouda cheese totaling 106.3 million pounds, butter totaling 61.2 million pounds, AMF totaling 127,868 pounds and WMP totaling 85,980 pounds. The product is going to 35 countries on four continents. On a butterfat basis, the milk equivalent of these exports is 2.319 billion pounds, the equivalent of 60% of the increase in U.S. milk production through September 2012.
Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program positively impacts producer milk prices in the short-term by helping to maintain inventories of cheese and butter at desirable levels. In the long-term, CWT’s Export Assistance program helps member cooperatives gain and maintain market share, thus expanding the demand for U.S. dairy products and the farm milk that produces them.

CWT will pay export bonuses to the bidders only when delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.